Legends That Every Child Should Know

Hamilton Wright Mabie
Legends That Every Child
Should Know

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Legends That Every Child Should
Know
by Hamilton Wright Mabie #3 in our series by Hamilton Wright Mabie
Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing
this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the
header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how
the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a
donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since
1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of
Volunteers!*****
Title: Legends That Every Child Should Know
Author: Hamilton Wright Mabie
Release Date: October, 2004 [EBook #6622] [Yes, we are more than

one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on January 5,
2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LEGENDS
EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW ***

Produced by David Garcia, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team.

[Illustration: GUY EARL OF WARWICK]
LEGENDS THAT EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW
A SELECTION OF THE GREAT LEGENDS OF ALL TIMES FOR
YOUNG PEOPLE
EDITED BY HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE
ILLUSTRATED AND DECORATED BY BLANCHE OSTERTAG

INTRODUCTION
If we knew how the words in our language were made and what they
have meant to successive generations of the men and women who have
used them, we should have a new and very interesting kind of history to
read. For words, like all other creations of man, were not deliberately
manufactured to meet a need, as are the various parts of a bicycle or of
an automobile; but grew gradually and slowly out of experiences which
compelled their production. For it is one of the evidences of the
brotherhood of men that, either by the pressure of necessity or of the
instinct to describe to others what has happened to ourself and so make
common property of personal experience, no interesting or influential
or significant thing can befall a man that is not accompanied by a desire
to communicate it to others.
The word legend has a very interesting history, which sheds light not

only on its origin but on early habits of thought and customs. It is
derived from the Latin verb _legere_, which means "to read." As
legends are often passed down by word of mouth and are not reduced to
writing until they have been known for centuries by great numbers of
people, it seems difficult at first glance to see any connection between
the Latin word and its English descendant. In Russia and other
countries, where large populations live remote from cities and are
practically without books and newspapers, countless stories are told by
peasant mothers to their children, by reciters or semi-professional
story-tellers, which have since been put into print. For a good many
hundred years, probably, the vast majority of legends were not read;
they were heard.
When we understand, however, what the habits of people were in the
early Christian centuries and what the early legends were about, the
original meaning of the word is not only clear but throws light on the
history of this fascinating form of literature. The early legends, as a rule,
had to do with religious people or with places which had religious
associations; they were largely concerned with the saints and were
freely used in churches for the instruction of the people. In all churches
selections from some book or books are used as part of the service;
readings from the Old and New Testament are included in the worship
of all churches in Christendom. In the earliest times not only were
Lessons from the Old Testament and the Gospels and Epistles of the
New Testament read, but letters of bishops and selections from other
writings which were regarded as profitable for religious instruction.
Later stories of the saints and passages from the numerous lives which
appeared were read at different services and contributed greatly to their
interest. The first legends in Christian countries were incidents from the
lives of the saints and were included in the selections made from
various writings for public worship; these selections were called
legends. The history of the word makes clear, therefore, the origin and
early history of the class of stories which we call legends.
The use of the stories
Continue reading on your phone by scaning this QR Code

 / 99
Tip: The current page has been bookmarked automatically. If you wish to continue reading later, just open the Dertz Homepage, and click on the 'continue reading' link at the bottom of the page.